Technology can make you fat: February 10, 2003 issue of New Thinking by Gerry McGovern

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February 10, 2003

Technology can make you fat

By Gerry McGovern

There are those who believe that technology is the answer to all our problems. A smaller group believe that technology is the root of evil. As usual, the truth lies somewhere in-between. However, increasingly, technology is encouraging more dependence that independence.

The latest, greatest offering from the altar of our high technologists is the Segway. This is a machine for those too lazy to walk. Looking like a cross between a wheelchair and a lawnmower, the Segway is extolled as an ingenious invention.

Proponents believe that the Segway will get people out of their cars. This may not be such a good idea. Pedestrians are complaining that the Segway is a major intrusion. There are demands that it should be banned from footpaths. If this happens, Segway motorists will find themselves on the street, sucking fumes from exhaust pipes.

Obesity is a major problem for rich countries. People are eating too much of the wrong food. This processed food is a major technological achievement. It's cheap, tasty, unhealthy and fattening. It is a response to the convenience society, where everything must be packaged and fast.

The word processor is a wonderful invention. It speeds up the writing process and makes it so much easier to edit. The problem is that many can type faster than they can think. The fingers race ahead of the mind. Content becomes like burgers.

The field in which technology made its name was agriculture. Tilling of the land had been dependent on the hands available. It was a hand to mouth existence, as people were able to grow just enough to feed themselves.

Then the plough arrived. Surpluses arose. With surpluses came the need to trade. Specialization developed as people were able to leave the land and focus on trades. Modern commerce emerged.

Since then, embedded in the societal mind was the idea of using technology to create more. More food. More ploughs. More of this and that. In time, the era of mass production arrived.

By and large, this was all for the better. Anyone who has worked on the land with basic tools will know that the work is hugely monotonous and backbreaking. As a child I spent days turning large fields of hay with a hayfork. When the tractor arrived it did the same work in half an hour.

So, technology has delivered tremendous benefits. The quality and quantity of food improved dramatically. People began to live longer, and have healthier, happier lives. Some complained, sure. They eulogized farm life. Back to nature, they chanted. Personally, I would never again turn fields with a hayfork if I could at all avoid it.

It's unlikely you'll catch me on a Segway, though. Am I missing something, or is the very idea of a motorized walking machine not a laughable, almost obscene idea? In the very societies where obesity is a growing problem, the technologists are busy building tools to make us fatter.

Technology wants to make everything easy. But exerting yourself can be very good for you. Whether you want to go to the shop or write an article, putting an effort in can bring a range of rewards.

Technology can make you fat. In body and in mind.

Gerry McGovern

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Previous issue: No silver bullet for web content

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In the very societies where obesity is a growing problem, the technologists are busy building tools to make us fatter.

Gerry McGovern's books are recommended reading at the following universities

Augustana College, United States
Brandeis University, United States
Drury University, United States
Dublin Institute of Technology, Ireland
Indiana University, United States
Monash University, Australia
Northeastern University, United States
University of Applied Sciences, Germany
University of Regina, Canada
University of Teesside, UK
Manchester Metropolitan University

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